The length from the chin to the crown of the head is six feet; the caps are about three feet more. No part of the bust is mutilated but the two hands in front, which are quite destroyed. Concealed steps behind Siva's hand lead to a convenient ledge or bench be. hind the cap of the bust, where a Bramin might have hidden himself for any purpose of priestly imposition. On each side of the trimurti is a pilaster, the front of which is filled up by a figure fourteen feet high, leaning on a dwarf; these are much defaced. To the right is a large square compartment, hollowed a little, carved into a great variety of figures, the largest of which is sixteen feet high, representing the double figure of Siva and Parvati, called Viraj or Ardha Nari, half male half female, the right side of which is Siva and the left his wife; it is four-handed; the two lower hands, one of which appears to have rested on the Nundi, are broken; the upper right hand has a cobra-capella, and the left a shield. On the right of the Viraj is Brama, four-faced, sitting on a lotus; and on the left is Vishnu on the shoulders of Garuda. Near Brahma are Indra and Indranee on their elephant, and below is a female figure holding a chamara or chowree*. The upper part of the compartment is filled with small figures in the attitudes of adoration. On the other side of the trimurti is a compartment answering to that I have just described. The principal figure I take to be Siva; at his left hand stands Parvati, on whose shoulder he leans ; between them is a dwarf, on whose head is one of Siva's hands, and near Parvati is another. Over Siva's shoulder hangs the ze. naar, and he holds the cobra-capella in one of his four hands. He is surrounded by the same figures which fill up the compartment of the Veraji; his own height (which we measured by a plumb-line dropped from his head,) is fourteen feet, and that of Parvati is ten. All these figures are in alto-relievo, as are those of the other sides of the cavern, the most remarkable of which is one of Siva in his vindictive character; he is eight-handed, with a chaplet of skulls round his neck, and appears in the act of performing the human sacrifice. On the right hand, as you enter the cave, is a square apartment The chamara is a whisk to keep off flies, made either of a cow's tail or peacock's feathers, or ivory shavings, set in a handle two feet long. They are always carried behind persons of rank. with four doors, supported by eight colossal figures; it contains a gigantic symbol of Maha Deo, and is cut out of the rock like the rest of the cave. There is a similar chamber in a smaller and more secret cavern, to which there is access from the corner next to the Viraji; the covering of the passage has fallen in, but, on climbing over the rubbish, we found ourselves in a little area which has no outlet, and is lighted from above, the whole thickness of the hill being cut through. The cavern to which it belongs contains nothing but the square chamber of Maha Deo, and a bath at each end, one of which is decorated with rich sculpture, When we had tired ourselves with examining the various wonders of the cavern of Elephanta, I sat down to take a sketch of the great compartments opposite to the entrance, and on our return to Bombay, comparing the drawing with those in Niebuhr, we were satisfied that its resemblance to the original is the most cor. rect. I am sorry to observe, that the pillars and sculptures of the cave are defaced in every part, by having the names of most who visit them either carved or daubed with black chalk upon them; and the intemperate zeal of the Portuguese, who made war upon the gods and temples, as well as upon the armies of India, added to the havoc of time, has reduced this stupendous monument of idolatry to a state of ruin. Fragments of statues strew the floor; columns, deprived of their bases, are suspended from the parent roof, and others without capitals, and sometimes split in two, threaten to leave the massy hill that covers them without support. The temple of Elephanta, and other equally wonderful caverns in the neighbourhood, must have been the works of a people far advanced in the works of civilized life, and possessed of wealth and power; but these were lodged in the hands of a crafty priesthood, who kept science, affluence, and honour, for their own fraternity, and, possessed of better ideas, preached a miserable and degrading superstition to the multitude. It would be curious to follow out the advancement and fall of the arts which produced such mo. numents; but not a trace of their history remains, and we are left to seek it in the natural progress of a people subtle and ingenious, but depressed by superstition, and the utter impossibility of rising individually, by any virtues or any talents, to a higher rank in society than that occupied by their forefathers. [Mrs. Grahame. |